Contents

Equality Impact Assessment - Results

To set revised Strategic Police Priorities which are
provided for through section 33 of the Police and Fire Reform
(Scotland) Act 2012.

Directorate: Division: team

Safer Communities Directorate: Police Division: Police
Strategy Unit

Executive summary

The public sector equality duty requires the Scottish Government
to assess the impact of applying a proposed new or revised policy
or practice. It is a legislative requirement. Equality legislation
covers the characteristics of: age, disability, gender
reassignment, gender including pregnancy and maternity, race,
religion and belief, and sexual orientation.

An equality impact assessment (
EQIA) aims
to consider how a policy (a policy can cover: activities,
functions, strategies, programmes, and services or processes) may
impact, either positively or negatively, on different sectors of
the population in different ways. This
EQIA has
been undertaken to consider the impacts on equality of the revised
Strategic Police Priorities (
SPPs).

Policing is relevant to everyone in Scotland but is particularly
relevant for the most vulnerable people in our society. In drafting
revised
SPPs we have
considered issues affecting all of the above mentioned equality
groups, reflecting our expectation that policing should have a
positive impact on each and every individual and community across
Scotland.

Background

The Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 (the Act) allows
Scottish Ministers to set
SPPs which
relate to the policing of Scotland and the
SPA's
statutory functions. They provide an outline of what is expected of
our police service and make a link between the National Outcomes
and our approach to policing.

Scottish Ministers must consult with the
SPA, the Chief
Constable, representatives from local authorities and anyone else
they consider relevant before setting new
SPPs.
Scottish Ministers must have regard to the policing principles, set
out under section 32 of the Act, when setting new
SPPs and a
copy must be laid before the Scottish Parliament.

The original
SPPs were
set in 2013 in the context of police reform and the creation of a
single police force, Police Scotland, and single police authority,
the Scottish Police Authority (
SPA).

In September 2015, the Scottish Government set out its intention
to strengthen the community focus of policing by working with
members of the public, communities and elected representatives to
review the
SPPs.

The revised
SPPs have
been developed following an initial phase of engagement which ran
from December 2015 to April 2016 and a formal consultation which
ran from 22 June to 16 August 2016. Both exercises sought views and
information from members of the public, communities, Local Police
Scrutiny Committees and other stakeholders.

Moving forward, the revised Priorities will provide a clear
mandate for the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland. They
will set out our shared aspirations and expectations for policing
in Scotland and will be used by Scottish Ministers, the Scottish
Parliament, the
SPA and Local
Scrutiny Committees to guide our approach to policing in the years
to come.

The Scope of the
EQIA

The initial phase of engagement to inform the revised
SPPs was
launched on 7th December 2015, supported by a discussion paper
which centred on the question 'What are your priorities for your
police service?'. The document was published on the Scottish
Government website and sent to a variety of stakeholders including
Local Authority Police Scrutiny Committees, all
MSPs,
senior police officers,
SPA Board
members and staff, and various other stakeholders including a range
of third sector organisations (including those representing
specific equality groups).

The first stage of engagement was intended to prompt a general
discussion about the aspects of policing which are most important
to people and organisations from across Scotland. The covering
letter had two 'asks', firstly that people consider what is
important to them about policing, and secondly that they promote
the discussion as widely as possible in their own areas.

As part of this initial round of engagement, Scottish Government
officials attended a number of Local Authority Police Scrutiny
Committee meetings and community planning events. A workshop with
YoungScot's Police Scotland Youth Advisory Panel also took place. A
total of 68 responses were received and 18 ideas were posted on the
Scottish Government's online policy ideas platform.

In addition to work specifically focused on the
SPPs, the
Scottish Government has been conducting a discussion around how we
can become a Fairer Scotland by 2030. That discussion was launched
in June 2015 and since then over 7,000 people have taken part in
Fairer Scotland public events as well as locally organised
sessions, with many more taking part online. Policing was raised in
a number of the Fairer Scotland discussions and views captured have
been used to augment those collected as part of our initial
engagement on the Strategic Police Priorities.

Following on from this intitial stage of engagement we carried
out a formal consultation on a revised set of six Priorities
focussed around the following themes:

Localism

Prevention

Response

Collaborative working

Accountability

Adaptability

The formal consultation paper was accompanied by a partial
EQIA/Childrens
Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (
CRWIA)
and the consultation paper specifically asked for views on that
assessment. The formal consultation, which ran from 22 June to 16
August 2016, provided an opportunity for further engagement with
Local Authority Police Scrutiny Committees, senior police officers,
SPA Board
members and staff, and various other stakeholders including a range
of third sector organisations (including those representing
specific equality groups). There were 110 responses to the formal
consultation, offering a range of views and further evidence.
Information and feedback was also gathered from further meetings,
including a workshop attended by organisations representing
childrens interests and two roundtables attended by people
representing ethnic minorities (one of which was attended by the
Cabinet Secretary for Justice).

The responses highlighted additional research and data which was
considered alongside already known information and used to shape
both our equality impact assessment and the
SPPs
themselves. Those information sources include:

The main equality issues that emerged from consultation
responses and our related discussions with stakeholders focussed
on:

challenges around inclusion/equality and the important role
of the police in promoting community cohesion.

scope for the impact assessments linked to the revised
SPPs to be
enhanced with consideration of further issues relating to
particular equality groups.

the structure of the impact assessments. Whilst some
consultation respondents felt that the partial joint
EQIA/
CRWIA
offered a good assessment of cross cutting issues, others felt
that this approach diluted the focus of the respective
assessments.

the need for the
EQIA to
consider intersectional identities.

the need for the
SPPs to
refer to specific types of crime or related issues that affect
each of particular equality groups.

Key Findings

Although our considerations in relation to the
SPPs and
their impact on equality issues and childrens rights/wellbeing have
been taken forward as part of a single process, we have chosen to
report our findings and response on these matters separately,
aiding clarity and reflecting views expressed during
consultation.

Very broadly, we know from both the quantative and qualitative
evidence gathered in carrying out the
EQIA that
people with different equality characteristics have different
experiences of policing and crime and can also have different needs
and expectations. It is important that our police service takes
account of this and adapts accordingly, working constructively with
individuals and communities across Scotland. The
SPPs have
been strengthened to reflect this point.

Following our initial phase of engagement we set out draft
SPPs and
sought views as part of a formal consultation. These included a
Priority around localism:

"Localism - Ensure that the needs of communities are understood
and reflected in the planning and delivery of policing"

In the background we set out that this Priority should extend
not only to geographic communities but also to communities of
interest, and that police services need to be responsive to the
needs of all individuals and communities across Scotland. This was
intended to reflect views we heard during our initial phase of
engagement and to capture our expectation that policing should be
as inclusive as possible.

More generally, the
SPPs which
were issued for consultation were intended to be inclusive and
supportive of equality issues, with the priorities focusing on
"Localism", "Collaborative Working", "Prevention" and "Response"
being particularly relevant.

We agree with the feedback offered through the consultation
which highlighted the importance of inclusion/equality and
recognised the important role of the police in promoting community
cohesion. We have sought to reflect this through an additional
Priority:

"Inclusion - Ensure our police service is accessible and
responsive to the needs of all people in Scotland."

This Priority is intended to work in conjunction with the other
SPPs and has
clear links to them. It has been pitched at a strategic level and
so does not refer specifically to any particular equality
characteristic or community or the types of crime or issues that
affect them. Instead, it is intended to broadly encapsulate the
Scottish Government's commitment to ensuring that nobody is
stigmatised or denied opportunities simply because of where they
live, their race or ethnicity, their disability, their gender or
sexual orientation, their age or religion.

Recommendations and Conclusion

We have used views expressed in relation to the needs or
expectations of people from equality groups, alongside other views,
research and experience to shape our thinking on the revised
SPPs.

As a result, we believe the
SPPs now
fully recognise the importance of inclusion and make clear that, in
improving the safety and wellbeing of people and communities across
Scotland, police services must be accessible to and engaged with
people covering the range of protected characteristics. Priorities
focussing on "Inclusion", "Localism", "Response", "Collaborative
Working" and "Accountability" are particularly relevant in this
context.

The
SPA and Police
Scotland have a statutory duty to ensure that the
SPPs are
reflected in the Strategic Police Plan and Annual Police Plan.
These plans are used to set out more specific objectives (in the
case of the Strategic Police Plan) and operational priorities (in
the case of the Annual Police Plan) for the policing of Scotland.
As such, the implementation and delivery of the Strategic Police
Priorities rests mainly with those bodies. We expect that further
impact assessment will be carried out by Police Scotland and the
SPA to support
the development of these plans. We will share information gathered
through this review to inform those processes.